For the second year in a row, Wilbraham & Monson Academy had a student earn the distinction of AP National Scholar, the highest academic award given by the College Board's AP Program.
"That fact that one of our students has earned this honor, for the second year in a row, symbolizes not only the hard work and determination of these students, most recently Junhao "Mark" Xu '16, but all of the hard work that our students and faculty pour into their endeavors here at WMA," Head of School Brian Easler said. "It makes me very proud."
Mark joined YoungSeok "Justin" Jang '15, Brian Kennedy '15 and Robert Taylor '15 as WMA students to recently earn the AP National Scholar honor, which requires a student to score a four or higher on eight AP exams, as well as an average of 4.0 or better.
"I'm honored to be named an AP National Scholar, which to me is an award for my academic achievement throughout high school," said Mark, who graduated cum laude and is attending New York University in Abu Dhabi. "The AP Program encouraged me to explore different disciplines, from literature to mathematics to humanities.
"The diverse and flexible curriculum at WMA gave me the valuable opportunities to explore and take all kinds of classes. The resources and experience of the teachers here are amazing and helped me significantly in being named an AP National Scholar. I would not be where I am now without them."
Along with Mark, 55 WMA students earned recognition from the College Board for their performance on this year's AP exams. Twenty-three students were named AP Scholars of Distinction (score of three or better on five or more exams with a 3.5 average or better); seven AP Scholars with Honors (score of three or better on four or more exams with an average of a 3.25 or better); and 24 AP Scholars (score of three or better on three or more exams).
"Our overall performance this year was very strong, as our number of AP Scholars attests," said Dean of Curriculum Meg Hutcheson. "Such student success is also due in large part to our dedicated teachers who develop strong curriculum that meets the high AP standards.
"I was particularly impressed with the high scores our students earned in the new AP Seminar course, and I am excited to launch the second year course, AP Research. A future goal for WMA is to have students named AP Capstone Scholars.
Of the 164 students who took AP exams, 76% earned scores of three or better, which is above the global (60%) and the state average (71%), with Massachusetts ranking as one of the top states in the country.
"I'm continually impressed with the level of dedication our faculty have in preparing our students for success in our Advanced Placement classes," Dean of Faculty Walter Swanson said.